Announcing the 2022 Fabulist Fiction/Novelette Contest. For the first time on Submittable!

Judge: Michelle Ruiz Keil
Dates: November 6th – December 6th 2022
Basic guidelines: Submit one or more stories with non-realistic elements totaling 7,500 to 17,500 words.
This year for the first time we are using submittable:
https://omnidawn.submittable.com/submit

The winner of the annual Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Chapbook / Novelette Contest wins a $1,000 prize, publication of the perfect bound pocket series chapbook / novelette with a full color cover by Omnidawn, 20 free copies of the winning chapbook / novelette, and extensive publicity through social media, our subscriber lists and more. (Note that the guidelines for this fiction contest are very similar to the guidelines for Omnidawn’s poetry contests.) For more detailed guidelines, scroll below.

For more about the judge, Michelle Ruiz Keil.

Important: Please do not use the old contest links. They will not work since we’ve moved from submissions manager to submittable.

Detailed Contest Guidelines:

  1. For this contest, Fabulist Fiction includes magic realism and literary forms of fantasy, science fiction, horror, fable, and myth. Stories can be primarily realistic, with elements of non-realism, or primarily, or entirely non-realistic.
  2. Open to all writers worldwide. There are no citizenship or residency requirements or limitations.
  3. Postal and online submissions are NOT accepted.
  4. Please do not include images of any kind in your submission. Your submission will be ineligible if you do, and we will be unable to refund your money or provide individual notification.
  5. Manuscripts must be in English, although it is perfectly acceptable to include some text in other languages.
  6. This contest is identity-hidden (formerly referred to as a blind contest), so please remove identifying information from your manuscript when submitting.
  7. Manuscript submissions for all contests must be original.
    Stories are NOT eligible for inclusion within a submission if they have been previously published online or in print or Ebook editions.
  8. We recommend that you keep the total length of your manuscript between 7,500 and 17,500 words, consisting of either one story or multiple stories.
  9. Simultaneous submissions to other contests are acceptable. Please let us know if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
  10. Revisions are not allowed to a manuscript after it has been submitted to the contest. However, the winning author may choose to make minor edits to the manuscript before publication. We do reserve the right to get approval from the judge.
  11. The reading fee is $18 per entry.
  12. Multiple submissions to this contest are acceptable, but each manuscript must be submitted separately, with a separate entry fee.
  13. Online entries must be received between November 6th and December 6th, 2022 at midnight Pacific Daylight Time.
  14. Past or present “students,” “colleagues,” or “close friends” of the judge are NOT ELIGIBLE. For the purpose of this contest the following definitions apply: “Students” are defined as someone who has taken one or more semesters or quarter courses from the judge, but we do not consider someone who has taken only a weekend or week long workshop to be a “student” of the judge. “Colleagues” include someone who has worked with the judge, usually in the same department at a university or college, but someone who has worked in a different unrelated department at the same university or college and has had very little contact with the judge is not considered a “colleague.” A “close friend” is defined as someone who has met with the judge socially, for instance for a private dinner. Someone who knows the judge, but only meets and greets the judge at readings and other events is not considered a “close friend.” Once you have had a “student,” “colleague,” or “close friend” relationship with the judge, even if it was many years ago, you are ineligible for this contest.
  15. ALSO NOT ELIGIBLE are translations; collaborations by more than one author; Omnidawn past and present staff and volunteers/interns; authors of books Omnidawn has published, and winners of previous Omnidawn BOOK and CHAPBOOK contests. Winners of Omnidawn’s Broadside Contest are still eligible to enter and win Omnidawn BOOK and CHAPBOOK contests.
  16. A few smaller errors in your manuscript, including spelling, punctuation, formatting, or typographic errors, do not reduce your chances of winning. (We fully understand that such errors sometimes occur for everyone, and that these can be easily corrected later.)

    The fabulist fiction chapbook contests winner will be announced to our email list and on our website page in summer 2023. We will send you an email notification of the contest winner and finalists. We expect to publish the winning chapbook in Spring, 2024.

Recent Winners of Omnidawn’s Fabulist Fiction Prize

Clyde Derrick

2020 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Contest Winner —
Judge: Molly Gloss

Clyde Derrick — Book Title: The Ghost Trio

Clyde Derrick’s first novel The Wash won the Sol Books Fiction Prize for publication, while his experimental story “Each One As She Must” placed third in UCLA’s “Considering Gertrude Stein” competition. His lauded short film Strider’s House has aired on PBS and his plays Angel’s Flight and Teshuvah have been produced on the Los Angeles stage by Write Act Repertory Company. Clyde earned his BA at Pomona College, where he won the Dole King Kinney Prize for writing, and an MFA in Cinema at USC. He lives in Claremont, California. 

David Rothman

2019 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Contest Winner —
Judge: Kellie Wells

Kristin Keane — Book Title: The Luminaries

Kristin Keane’s work has appeared with the New England Review, The Normal School, Electric Literature and elsewhere. She is a doctoral fellow at Stanford University and lives in San Francisco. More of her work can be found at thisisnotreallyhere.space. 

The five finalists selected by Kellie Wells (in alphabetical order by last name) are: Tobey Hiller, San Rafael, California; Noah Lemelson, Los Angeles, California; Amanda Montei, Concord, California; Simon Ratcliffe, Steenberg, Cape Town, South Africa; and Hubert Vigilla, Brooklyn, New York.

David Rothman

2018 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Contest Winner —
Judge: Meg Elison

David Rothman — Book Title: The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association

David Rothman has had short stories published in such journals as Glimmer Train, Hybrido, The Piltdown Review, Newtown Literary, among others. He has a Master’s Degree in English and Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin, and has taught writing for the City University of New York for over twelve years. David is the drummer for the NYC-based band, The Edukators.’ He is a proud resident of Jackson Heights, Queens, New York

The five finalists selected by Lily Hoang (in alphabetical order by last name) are: F.J. Bergmann, Madison, Wisconsin; Melissa Crandall-Everett, Hebron, Connecticut; Andrew Sebela, Brooklyn, New York; Marcus Stewart, London, United Kingdom; Taylor Sykes, Asheville, North Carolina.